Coming Up for Air
by Casyn
Summary: Severus is hurting. What if someone noticed and decided to help? A one shot set in the Saving Universe, but it is not necessary to read that to understand this one. AU/Non-canon complaint! Also, eating disorders. Let me know what you think!


A/N-_ Do not own. Non-canon and AU! It is a one shot that is part of the Saving Universe. Set during Severus' sixth year. What if one of Severus' friends realized that something was wrong? What if he had the abilities to bring in outside help? It is a short one-shot that is a bit fluffy in places. Not as much dialogue as normal. Also the healer in this story, Healer Rives, will be making an appearance in INoS shortly! So be on the lookout for that. x's are scene breaks. Also, this is focused on an eating disorder. Sort of. _

_~Case  
_

-x-

**Anorexia Nervosa- Lack of appetite**

-x-

There was, without a shadow of a doubt, something horribly wrong with his friend. He was not a Ravenclaw for nothing. His warm brown eyes were usually crinkling with humour and his dark brown hair was, as always, neat and clean. His eyes, however, were serious today. Serious and sad. For his friend was hurting and he wasn't sure why. But he knew that he would do whatever he had to, if it would help his friend.

Severus Snape used to be a lonely boy. Quiet, studious, well-read. But lonely. And yet now, with his friend group, he was withdrawing himself, falling back into old habits. Sixteen, tall, skinny. Gaunt. His black hair was limp and unhealthy, his dark deep eyes dim. There were circles under his eyes and he wore robes that were much too big and ratty. He was tired. He was hungry. And he just wanted to be left alone. But Nico...the other boy kept watching him. He knew that he would never find out his secret., but that did not mean he liked it.

Nico watched his friend with sharp eyes. Severus had lost weight, with those baggy robes he could not be certain, but his cheek bones seemed to jaunt out a bit. His eyes were hollow and, if he was not mistaken, his hair seemed to be falling out. He was apprenticed to a Healer, worked with the man on weekends, so he was learning the signs that the body gave for all kinds of sickness. Perhaps this was something to ask his mentor about.

-x-

It took him two weeks to get up the nerve to ask his mentor and in those two weeks, Severus grew weaker. Much weaker. He had seen the boy falter and stumble, and he was sure that the other boy had fainted at least once. He knew something was wrong and he was hoping to take Severus with him this weekend when he went to stay and train with his mentor. The older man would be able to help him, he knew. He just had to convince Severus.

Convince, stun, same thing. Severus could kill him later, once they were at his mentor's house. The other boy was so light, it was scary. With a invisibility spell on the slightly younger boy, Nico was carrying him throughout the castle to the floo he used on weekends. Severus was easy to carry, too easy for someone who was sixteen. There was something wrong and he hoped that it wasn't what he thought it was. But his instincts told him that it was and his mentor had told him to always follow his instincts, as they were often right.

-x-

The older man lifted the light youth from his apprentice's arms, frowning at the lack of weight. "Did you at least tell him where you were taking him before you stunned him, boy?" He gruffed, glancing at the tall, brown-haired youth. One more year until the boy graduated and then he would make the smart child his full-time apprentice. Smart but sometimes the boy was a bit rash. He turned green eyes to the boy resting on the examination table, brushing graying black hair away from his face. He cast the first of a series of diagnostic spells, frowning at the results. Spell after spell made his frown deepen. This child had done serious damage to himself, as had someone else, and no one seemed to have noticed. "Is Albus Dumbledore currently at Hogwarts?" He asked quietly, though he could guess at the answer. Nico would not have managed to stun and disappear with another student if Albus had been there.

"No sir. Dumbledore hasn't been there at all lately. McGonagall is running things. She just left the floo open and told me to use it whenever I was ready. Is he that bad, George?" Nico asked quietly, coming to stand next to him and turning critical eyes on the scans. Some of them he did not recognize, but others were familiar. And surprising.

"Let us get him stable and then I shall contact _Professor_ McGonagall." George Rives replied, gently resting his hand on the black-haired boy's chest. The boy had a least two cracked ribs, as well as several cuts and abrasions. He was also gaunt and sickly thin. If he had to take a guess, it would probably be _Anorexia Nervosa_. From what Nico had told him, the previous weekend, it looked much like anorexia. He had not liked the idea of waiting to see this youth, but he had assumed it was nothing serious, especially if it took his charge two weeks to even mention it to him. Oh, they would be having a long talk later. After he made sure this youth was set to healing. He could not fix the child, it was not as simple as healing broken bones. The boy needed a mindhealer and he would suggest it to the Deputy if Albus was not around. He would just call Rainwater or Piers, but the youth was still a minor and the school acted as guardian. He would heal the boy, even though he should contact the school first. But sometimes, life was more important than a simple legal matter.

-x-

It took three hours to heal the majority of the child's injuries as well as spelling potions into him. He was asleep still, perhaps that was for the best. For George was fuming. He had just ended a floo call with McGonagall. The woman had not cared that one of her students was not at the school. Well, not after she found out which student it was. According to Nico, the woman did not like Slytherins, but that was no reason to be so blatantly disinterested in the well-being of one of her students. She had also not known when Albus would be back. Apparently, he was off hunting the Dark Lord or at the ministry. God help him. He had finally just asked for permission to keep both boys for two weeks, stating that Severus was interested in healing and he wanted to check his aptitude while adding more training time for Nico. The woman had merely brushed him off, agreeing to inform both boys heads of house and to excuse them from classes. He left her with the instructions to have Albus contact him as soon as the man should return and ended the call before he could hex her for being so damn callous. He would not, of course, be testing Severus. But the child needed time to heal and two weeks was enough time to get some potions and food into him. He could also start trying to get the child to talk. It would be a good experience for Nico, too, as it would help the boy learn to deal with patients who did not want their help.

-x-

When Severus first woke up, he was angry. Angry that Nico had managed to sneak up on him, angry that the boy would stun him. And then he was confused. He did not know where he was nor who the older man that was watching him was. Then he was angry again. Nico had brought him to a healer, against his will! That should be illegal. It probably was illegal somewhere. Then he was raging, trying desperately to get off the bed he was confined to. He could not miss two weeks of school! He was not staying here for that long. But then George started talking to him. Not asking questions, not forcing him, just talking. The man told him about the war he fought in, the patients he had healed. He spoke to him about healing potions and his homeland. He spoke to him while he was eating, Nico sprawled at the foot of his bed, on his stomach with his own bowl of stew. He did not make a big deal out of it, but he encouraged him to just eat a bit more, to take one more bite. He knew he gained a bit of weight, but George would not let him near a scale. And slowly, he started to talk back. First to George and then to Nico.

It had been hardest speaking to Nico, of course, but the other boy had sworn an oath to not tell anyone about any of it. So he spoke. Quietly and infrequently, but he did speak. George had mentioned the cuts and he acknowledged them, knowing the Nico could only do so much to stop him at school and that he couldn't, didn't want to really, cut there. He did still struggle to eat, but George and Nico talked him through it, coaxing every bite if they had to. The two weeks flew by quickly and finally George decreed him stable enough to return to Hogwarts, to his home. With an order, to both him and Nico, to contact him immediately if they needed anything, he had sent them through the floo.

Severus did not know, of course, that as soon as the boys were back at school, he floo'd the Headmaster once more. Albus was not there, he had not returned in the past two weeks, which was a bit worrying. He finally gave in, giving McGonagall a sealed letter to give to Albus once he returned. When he finally returned home, he assumed that Nico, at least, would contact him if Severus became as bad again and that Dumbledore would either contact him or do as he suggested. He never knew that Albus would not get the letter. For as soon as he was gone, McGonagall would toss it into the fire, scowling as the flames burned away the evidence that something might be wrong with one of the Slytherin boys.


End file.
